Stop attacks on Kentucky solar

Kentuckians want more affordable solar energy, and in recent years our homegrown solar industry has expanded steadily, creating good new jobs in every region. But now, Kentucky lawmakers are pushing an extreme anti-solar bill, HB 227, which would block our ability to go solar. It does so by taking away our right to fair compensation for the solar energy we generate.

The bill re-writes the rules to reward monopoly utility companies and punish consumers. It guts our net metering law, which gives solar homeowners a one-for-one credit for energy their rooftop systems provide to the grid. If passed, the bill would put rooftop solar out-of-reach for most Kentuckians.

It does so by triggering recurring rate cases that could change the terms of net metering for existing and future customers. It sets up no language to protect customer investments, making it impossible to predict the value of an investment. This process would burden the solar industry and the Public Service Commission with multiple rate cases with rules that favor the monopoly utilities. This legislation directs the public service commission to evaluate all of the costs, but not the benefits, of rooftop solar. Lastly, the legislation would unfairly impose a hard cap of 1% on the solar market for every utility, limiting the solar market at a time when we want and need it to expand. Visit Kentuckians for the Commonwealth to learn more about the bill.